Cruise virgin, want to book in a week, help!

[12RedRoses]

Have decided to try a cruise in a week, if I can.
Do I book through the company or another site for cheaper? What extras do I want and what don’t I want.
How do I make the most of the ship/excursions when I’ve no idea what I’m doing!

I’m hoping to book for September, so will watch this with interest, but I was told to go for a cabin in the middle of the ship on a middle floor.

We've just booked one, went through our local travel agent. She gave me the following tips- middle of the boat is better as there is less up and down movement. Book excursions as soon as possible as they book up quickly. Book parking with transfers to the ship as soon as possible. Have fun!

I used sea scanner to look at all options. Decide which ports you want to visit and filter for them and work from there, Google the ships as you go. I found sea scanner to be exactly the same price as booking direct, and then they had a 10% sale. I sent the full itinerary to a local travel agent and they matched it so I booked with them.

I'm going on my first cruise soon and chose a Med cruise, drinks and WiFi package and balcony cabin.

We're going with MSC so quite a lot cheaper than some companies, I can't wait!

Do you know where you want to go, what is your budget? What are your expectations? Do you want an outside cabin or willing to save on an inside one?

I would look on a site offering multiple companies at first to get an idea then check book direct prices.

If you are cruising solo, check out the solo cruise Facebook group, very lively and full of ideas

Outside cabin with a balcony and a sofa or some other seating apart from the bed. Cruising with no flying, budget, not idea. I guess maybe £1500/£2k each. But I don’t know about food/drink included and how much extra to allow.

maybe Norwegian fjords or Iceland or Spain/Mediterranean. Not really fussy,

Any cruise companies that are better or ones to avoid? Don’t want to feel rammed in, but then think those giant ones are more anonymous and space?

had assumed ships would have no movement at that size! Did not realise caning position was important

If you don't want to fly then you'll be looking at something out of Southampton most likely.

Depends what sort of things you're looking for. P&0 is family orientated but uk currency so no exchange rates on the boat which could be good.

I like princess. They have amazing food. Onboard is in $. We're going with celebrity next year and I'm looking forward to that.

On all of them you can buy booze packages if that's your sort of thing.

Room wise I'd go with a balcony if you can afford it but likelihood is you won't spend much time in your room

I never book excursions- at every port there will be loads of taxis that will do a full day itinerary for you which will be cheaper than excursions on the boat.

Other than that - the middle is the most stable. I go towards the rear and around deck 8/9 as I find it's better to have cabins above and below you as it's quieter.

We have booked a Norwegian fjords cruise with P&O leaving from Southampton in 3 weeks - our first ever! Feeling excited and petrified in equal measure!! Two adults and two kids. No family cabins left so we went for two cabins next to each other which wasn’t any more expensive and will hopefully give us a bit more space. We have cruise parking and some onboard credit, but haven’t booked drinks packages as don’t think we will get through £40 worth each a day. I’ve been researching and have decided to book my excursions separately as there is more variety and lots to choose from. Remember your travel insurance documents!

I heard from somewhere that you get free parking if you depart from Liverpool. Anyone know if it’s true ?

Are you going with kids? That always changes my recommendations. If so what sort of ages?

Do you want formal a lot of the time? Like to dress up? If so Cunard or one of the 5/6 star lines like seven seas.

Do you want fun? Royal Carribean is a great, fun line and fabulous for kids but can get pricey on board.

Most ships have the buffet, main dining rooms and some sort of cafe all included in the cost. Then they will have speciality restaurants where you pay a surcharge (usually up to $40 ish).

Some lines do drinks packages (don't bother with the p&o drinks package it's crap). I find Princess has the best drinks package when you book the "plus or premier" fare as that includes your tips and WiFi for the cruise.

Booking wise see who offers the best deals (avoid Iglu Cruises, the after sales service is really crap).

Happy to help. Been on 8 cruises with 5 different cruise lines and have loved them all in different ways.

Thing with going from Southampton is you have a good few sea days. You might like this but we prefer port intensive cruises. Where do you want to go? That’s always our starting point. No point in saying you don’t want to fly if you want to see Greece or Croatia they very likely won’t go from the UK. You’ll get more options if you fly first.

Ship excursions can be expensive. Research those v going on your own. Join cruise critics forums and there will likely be a page for your cruise on Facebook to join.

Research drinks package and if you’ll make use of it or not. Drinks packages don’t just include alcohol. They can include bottled water, freshly squeezed OJ at breakfast, proper coffee, soft drinks as well as alcohol. Be honest with yourselves and add up what you like to see if it’s worthwhile.

I've been on many cruises and always book direct from the cruise line's website as then you can browse and choose all the add ons yourself. either at the time of booking or later as you do your reseach.

Once you have decided which cruise you're doing, get onto Youtube, there is SO much content. I can guarantee you lots of people will have done a walk through of the ship, the boarding process, 'secret hacks', everything - by the time you get on it will all feel quite familiar! There are cruise nuts who will have blogged the whole journey, posted copies of the menus and the daily activity planners - so much info out there.

Some lines are definitely better than others; we’ve done Oceania, and Azamara- both really lovely but not cheap! Not sure what goes from Southampton, as previously said, you’ll have more option if you do fly somewhere in Europe.

We’re trying a Virgin cruise in October to Dubrovnik from Athens

You don’t need to book extras at the same time that you book the cruise. There is time to think about it and add them on. Drinks packages are only worth if you drink a lot, excursions are cheaper to arrange independently.

You will probably need to chose a dining time when you book - early or late - maybe a flexible option. With the fixed time you have a waiter dedicated to you who you get to know well.

Look at pictures of the outside of the ship before you choose your balcony. Some look straight down into lifeboats. Some ships have amazing aft or corner balconies for the same price.

Have a great time!

Although if you are literally going next week you may not have loads of choices. It is cheaper to get the extras before you board. Look at the port websites for information on the ports. Cruise Critic and What’s In Port are both really helpful,

Each cruise line has quite a different vibe, so it might be worth looking on the cruise critic site to see what they say about ships on your shortlist. For example, Cunatd is very traditional, with afternoon tea and ballroom dancing complete with gentleman hosts as fance partners. Celebrity is big white spaces, modern art, and speciality dining. So I'd suggest narrowing your choices to two or three sailings and then looking to see if you like what is said about that ship.

@PoppityBoo we did exactly that cruise as our first cruise. We didn’t bother with a drinks package as not big drinkers and at the 24 hour buffet there was tea, coffee, water and juice available. DH did one coach trip but DS wanted to go to an aquarium so I went there, involved local transport. If you do something off boat factor in time for your return. they will not wait for you. Norway is crazy expensive I remember it was £25 for fish and chips each and this is a decade ago. make sure you take your own bottled water off the boat. You are allowed to take some alcohol of your own on to the boat, do that.

We did a mix of dining as a family and sharing tables. Overall people seemed to have very good manners and I didn’t see one child misbehave, they do have very good holiday clubs for kids. I liked the formal black tie do they had but if it’s not your thing the buffet is open.

Thanks, found a few pages of hel p places.

Thinking about the p&o Iona and Norway maybe or Mediterranean or Norway and Iceland

Ambassador Cruise Line do no fly cruises

www.ambassadorcruiseline.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw756lBhDMARIsAEI0AglyKX5FE2Ysb98heKpwum2fbYaXO381TtZjfbyMj5C14rEmrBRwjx8aAkQpEALw_wcB